1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer memory, and particularly to power management for DRAMs which allow issuing a power on/off command to a DRAM device on a DIMM.
2. Description of Background
Before our invention synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAMs or DRAMs) were employed on DIMMs or memory modules in computer systems and a standing spare memory cell or device was used to replace a failed memory cell or device. As an example, repairable fully-buffered memory modules have been used in personal computers which have spare or redundant repair memory that is accessed for repair addresses on the memory module. A repair controller has been used for accessing spare repair memory. These systems have not sufficiently considered the power consumption of handling redundant spare memory.